MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine men's basketball team led Long Island from the first bucket of the night as the Waves defeated the Sharks 88-53.
The Waves (3-1) saw five players accrue double-figure scoring and three more gather seven or more rebounds in a start-to-finish domination by the home team.
BIG WAVES
- Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) led the Waves with 24 points on 4-of-6 shooting from long range and a near perfect 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
- Freshman Nils Cooper (Los Angeles, Calif./Crossroads HS) finished with 13 points and three steals while also going spotless from the fouls line in his five attempts.
- While it wasn't quite his night offensively, Michael Ajayi (Kent, Wash./Pierce College) found his groove on the boards gathering 12 total.
- Jalen Pitre (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly) contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.
Celebrations were also in order for head coach
Lorenzo Romar's birthday:
KEY STATS
- Pepperdine outshot its opponent in all categories for the second night in a row, going for 40.3% from the field, 47.4% from beyond the arc and 89.3% from the charity stripe.
- The Waves reserves also outscored LIU's with 39 points to the Sharks' 17.
- Pepperdine won the rebounding battle as well, grabbing 52 to LIU's 31.
RECAP
Mallette opened up the night with a dagger three after just 22 seconds, and that just about summed up the game for the Waves as he finished the first stanza with 23 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting and sinking all seven of his free throw attempts. Pepperdine continued its offensive barrage, enjoying a 10-0 run in the first ten minutes of play that included threes by Mallette,
Ethan Anderson and Pitre. Both teams traded buckets to run out the first half clock, going into the locker rooms with a 21-point advantage.
It was all downhill from there for the Waves as the Pepperdine defense did not allow an LIU bucket until around the 16-minute mark. Cooper went on a run of his own late in the game, gathering a rebound and powering back up for an emphatic dunk moments before a strong three-point play. The freshman scored the last four points of the game as well, sending the contest away with a fastbreak dunk.
NEXT UP
Pepperdine remains at home this week for a date with UNLV Friday evening, set for a 7 p.m. tip off. The game will serve as the Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night and fans are encouraged to wear orange in support of the Waves.
